hahah LP we had at least one, possibly more, of that very dog and MAN it's really kinda creepy but both kids loved it around your punkling's age. I think they might be slightly different now but the one we had for D 4 years ago would randomly bust out with stuff like "I LOVE you" in the creepiest way.

Tickets to an experience of some sort (Kids' show, movie, museum pass, kiddie amusement park, etc depending on the budget)?

We were thinking about that, but couldn't figure out what would be do-able for them considering they have two younger kids to wrangle. One of the best gifts I ever got as a kid was a series of origami classes at the art museum (in Balboa park!), when I was 9 - so I think those are really good gifts if the kid can actually get to them.

mollyjade wrote:

Ariann wrote:

Suggestions for good presents for a 5-year-old (kindergartener)? For a family that has very, very little space to spare.

I just got my 4 1/2 year old nephew a subscription to High Five (Highlights for 2-6). I'm in the "never too many books" camp. We picked up a copy of the magazine so there was something to wrap.

Oh, this is brilliant!

Ada gets this (birthday present from grandparents) and she loves getting it in the mail every month. I'm sure a five year old would be just as excited to get mail!

Sashi, what do you think of High Five? We are still getting Hello (the 0-2 one) and it's only recently started to seem maybe a little basic, but I saw High Five at the dentist's office a few months ago and it seemed like maybe there wouldn't be a high enough pictures:words ratio to hold Vi's attention. I'm waffling on whether to switch over.

Inez got a subscription to High Five from her aunt and uncle for Christmas and her first issue came yesterday. So far, it's been a HUGE hit. She's already reciting the stories to herself from memory. I'm glad she likes it so much because one of her gifts from us is a Ladybug subscription (we were both huge Cricket fans as kids). The first issue of that hasn't come yet, but I think she's going to like it.

annak, it looks like the High Five format is probably 3-4 short illustrated stories, a couple (illustrated) rhymes, a comic, some picture games and a couple activities. Violet is like 2.5, right? I bet she'd dig it. I will say I'm not that impressed with the illustrations (based off one issue, so super fair) - I'm hoping Ladybug is better in that area. Cricket always had amazing illustrations.

Last year before our trip to Japan I took out subscriptions to Hello, Baby Bug, and National Geogaphic Little Kids. Hello is by far our favorite - the Nat Geo is for a slightly older set (though she does like the animal pictures, she's just not at the level of caring about distinguishing one type of sea star from another)… Baby Bug has more stories in each issue, but they're much more abstract and I don't like the artwork style as much (it feels a little more..old fashioned?) Plus, Hello is the sturdiest - compact but the pages are fairly indestructible.

Just wanted to pop in and thank everyone for their super helpful suggestions!! Here's what I ended up getting for my friends' kidlets:

3 mo old: Sophie the giraffe, the board books annak mentioned a few pages back, Pat the Bunny (my fav book as a kid!), and I knitted three pairs of booties

4 yo (princess-obsessed) girl: a huge box of crayolas with all these crazy metallic, rainbow swirl colors (I tried looking for the smelly ones I remember loving but I guess that's not a thing anymore?), a princess coloring book (eye roll, but it's supposed to have lots of puzzles and stuff too...), the book Dangerously Ever After about a tough princess, and this really beautiful matching game

and for her 3 yo brother, after reading about all the kiddos here who love trains, this beginner train set.

I felt like the gifts for the older kids were kind of gendered but I spent sooo much time trying to find not dumb, but not boring stuff. I kinda wanted to get the Goldie Blocks set but then I read that they're actually not that good? Anyone checked them out yet?

Thoughtful gift buying for children is a lot harder than I'd thought! So again, many thanks!

We got Goldie Blocks as a gift for V from my in-laws. She's still really young for it, but thinking back to my own childhood…Honestly, I wouldn't spend your money on it. They're expensive and there are better toys: for engineering, snap circuits are good although aimed at an older audience, BUT i have a friend w/ a kindergartner who's been enjoying them with some assistance… Lego and Meccano (Erector) are also good. Basically, it's a length of ribbon, some spools, a pegboard to mount them on, and a few figurines to spin on top of them with a book that has kind of a contrived story to go along with it. I like the idea of it, but the execution is just not.. a fun toy.

Do you guys have any ideas to get for three sisters 5,7 and 9 years old. Usually I crochet them a little stuffed animal or a little purse, last year I made them personalized aprons, but this year i have no time for anything creative. I want to give them each something small that won't be annoying to their parents. the year we gave them books they were underwhelmed to say the least.

_________________I am not a troll. I am TELLING YOU THE ******GOD'S TRUTH****** AND YOU JUST DON'T WANT THE HEAR IT DO YOU?

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 6561Location: United States of New England

it's that time of year again.

my parents keep surreptitiiously leaving behind toy catalogs at my house but BP is only 18 months so right now her favorite toys other than her 3 favorite stuffies are an empty Dunkin Donuts coffee cup, two styrofoam packing things from a document scanner i had to buy for work, a certain kitchen cabinet, one of the drawers in my bathroom, and her infant swing (she LOVES pushing the damn button that plays music.)

other than her absolute favorite BFF 4 eva stuffed bear she hasnt shown much of an interest in stuffed animals but seems to really like these 2 stuffed animal like dollies. they are soft and small and most likely for infants but she still carries them around. i always hated dolls so im at a bit of a loss. the realistic dolls creep me the fork out. id like to try to find a smaller sized doll somewhere in between creepy as fork and just a small infant soft plushy doll. someone gave me a hand made doll at my baby shower. maybe ill bring that out. it's kind of big is the only thing and BP is so wee.she also still loves that creepy dog toy that sings that i was talking about last year

she loves train tables when we see them but im afraid of buying such a big expensive thing for an 18 month old. im not sure if that interest will wane or get crazier as seems like most kids get really into trains for awhile.

im wondering if she will like Little People toys yet. the toys dont really need to be age appropriate for her (though cognitively appropriate) as it seems alot of stuff is aged older just because they dont want small kids putting them in their mouth and she doesnt do that.

id like it to still be a low key holiday season since she's still so young but we'll see what happens with the relatives.....

I think I am going to get that same Little people set for Giles. And yes, BP is a great age for the little people toys - they say 3 or whatever because kids aren't supposed to chew and swallow the stuff but you won't have that issue with BP! We are also going with a train set and would totally get a train table but we do not have room. Does she have melissa and doug type chunky wooden puzzles? Those have been great.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 6561Location: United States of New England

i ended up buying that city skyway thing while i was at Target today. it was on sale for $30.it's going to tower over BP as it says it's over 3 feet tall but i think she will still like it. it says 1.5 to 5 years old so hopefully she will use it for awhile.

ill have to look at some Little People sets. maybe my parents can get her one of those

hey LP how 'bout a bead maze type thing. Hmm also a simple train set with tracks, you can get an inexpensive one and then if she loves it, branch out more. And if it seems a bit mellow for her, there are electric/battery-operated trains and that may thrill her - I know one of my kids wasn't that into just pushing the train around but completely enamored when she saw one that moved on its own (well, with the push of a button or whatever). Re: dolls, I pretty much find all dolls creepy but both my girls LOVE them, and Corolle makes quite small, sweet-looking ones in addition to bigger ones.

also I forgot to add that we have a big ol' tub of train tracks from IKEA and Sierra's main interest is putting the tracks together - hours of entertainment! It may seem too fiddly for BP at first but she'll catch on I bet.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 6561Location: United States of New England

you know what's funny about the trains that move on their own (push button) is i found one at a consignment store and bought it because she also has this Dora truck that says stuff when you push a button and she LOVES it.took the train home pushed the button and it very slowly started moving and bumped her leg and she FREAKED THE fork OUT and was inconsolable. everytime we turned it on either one of us or let her figure it out she freaked out again.